Both doors to the royal bedchambers flew open with a bang. The very expensive wooden doors swung all the way open and the equally expensive crystal door handles slammed against the wall. Twilight winced at the sound, hoping she hadn’t broken anything. She still wasn't quite used to being gentle with all the fancy royal stuff they let her touch.

“Woooooo~” Cadance shouted, whooping enthusiastically as she was carried over the threshold.

Cadance tore the crown off her head and flung it at the nearest couch. Next came the veil, which she whipped as hard as she could after the crown. As she no longer had a mane with physical substance, the veil had been secured with a headband that had been partially hidden beneath her crown. The whole thing was sheer lace, and despite her mighty throw, the veil didn’t go further than the reach of her arm before fluttering slowly onto the carpeted floor. Cadance watched it slowly drift to the ground, and the moment it touched down she threw out her hooves and waved them energetically, giving another excited cry of, “Woohoo!”

“Please stop wiggling!” Twilight wheezed, red-faced and sweating as she carried Cadance in her arms through the door, balancing precariously on two legs. She teetered as Cadance writhed and bounced, falling back two steps before managing to keep them both vertical. Cadance was a bit larger than she was, and so carrying the spoiled princess was a little like carrying an unwieldy couch that bounced, gyrated, and kept trying to kiss you – though she would never, ever make that comparison out loud.

Twilight grunted and walked Cadance in the last few steps before setting her bride down and collapsing onto her sore haunches. She panted, trying to catch her breath as she shrugged out of her chakram holster and started undoing the buttons on her now wrinkled and sweat-soaked dress uniform.

The wedding had gone off without a single thing going awry, save for the massive blunder that had kicked it off. Princess Celestia had apologized profusely to Twilight and Cadance for her mistake, and even though they’d accepted it with a laugh, the older princess’ cheeks were permanently flushed with embarrassment through the ceremony – wedding and coronation, both. Luna had stood off to the side, grinning the whole while, but whether it was because Celestia had committed such a hilariously public faux pas or because she was happy that there were going to be new additions to the family, Twilight couldn’t tell.

The ceremony, photo session, and reception had been held in the courtyard beneath the palace, with the newly formed Crystal Heart as the wedding’s centerpiece. While the reception had started as a quiet, reserved affair, the festival happening in the rest of the city had eventually penetrated the velvet-roped barrier separating the private party from the public one. The two celebrations had blended together, until the Canterlot elites that had been invited out of formality were eventually swept away only to end up dancing in fountains and abandoning the gourmet dinner in favor of stuffing funnel cakes into their mouths. It seemed like no one – noble or common, pony or otherwise – could resist the whimsical magic of the Empire.

It was already nearly two in the morning, but Twilight would still have been downstairs, attempting to drink Spitfire, Basenji, Spike, and half her new guards under the table, if Cadance hadn’t leaned over and whispered that she wanted out of her wedding dress. The sultriness in Cadance’s voice hadn’t been lost on Twilight, and she immediately conceded the contest, hacking and coughing the cider she’d inhaled at the subtle proposition.

She was excited to get her new bride in the bedroom, but the coldest of waters was dumped on that enthusiasm as Cadance said she wanted to be carried across the threshold… all of the thresholds. Everyone single one between the courtyard and their new chambers, which took up the majority of the seventh floor of the palace.

“Aw, look at you, sweetie,” Cadance said with an eager coo. Her horn lit with magic, and a series of buckles hidden somewhere under the ruffles and folds on the back of her dress clicked audibly as the train fell to the ground with a silken and lacey huff. “You’re all tuckered out from the party. Are you sure you’re going to have enough energy for me? Where’s that famous Royal Guard stamina?”

“It… it fell out of me on… on the fourth floor… along with the rest of my soul...” Twilight said, gasping anew as she stood and began reeling the rest of the train in from the hallway.

Twilight took a few more deep breaths to compose herself, then stuck her head back out the door, checking up and down the hallway for signs of guards or maids. Twilight had specifically ordered the entire floor emptied out so they could be alone. There wouldn’t be anyone else in the room, but making love while two armored stallions stood outside the door always felt a little weird. Even with silencing charms up, it sometimes made them feel like they were teenagers in one of their parents’ house, trying not to make the bedsprings squeak as they screwed one another when they were supposed to be doing homework. They’d gotten used to it, and sometimes even used that specific scenario in roleplay, but tonight neither of them wanted anything even remotely distracting.

“I’m going to take a shower before we get started,” Cadance said in an oddly matter-of-fact way.

“I’ll be right there,” Twilight said as she locked the door and started carefully removing her uniform. Even if it was wrinkled and sweaty she still wanted to properly hang it up. Military fastidiousness was ground into her bones, especially where her uniform was concerned.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Cadance said, clicking her tongue with a reproachful little tisk. “If I let you get in with me then one of us – probably me – is going to get gropey before I can get everything in order and my plans will be ruined.”

Twilight froze in the middle of peeling off her jacket and tilted her head in suspicion. “Plans?”

Cadance tossed a grin over her shoulder as she flicked her tail at Twilight’s face. It hadn’t been long since her full ascension, but Cadance finally had some control over her magically flowing mane and tail – those first few days were the worst, as her hair seemed to have a mind of its own, sometimes even wrapping fully around her own head and leaving her in a blind panic until it decided to move out of the way. Now, she could more or less direct the way it moved, though sometimes Twilight wondered if maybe it really did have a mind of its own. There were chubby little hearts that seemed to swim around in the field of glittering stars in her mane like fish in an aquarium, and Twilight could have sworn that she once saw one of the little hearts float out of Cadance’s mane before quickly darting back inside, like a minnow that had wandered off from its school.

As Cadance’s misty tail swept across Twilight’s face, she felt the tingle of magic gently brushing against her fur like a warm, ghostly caress. There was something extra in the way it felt, as if Cadance’s lips had just peppered her with hard kisses. Cadance must have learned a new trick.

“You’re going to have to wait and see,” Cadance said, her grin widening. She started for their in-suite bath, rolling her hips with every step and lifting her tail just high enough to flash little teasing glimpses of her other smile.

Twilight watched her bride sashay across their chambers, swallowing down the saliva that had built up in her mouth at the sight. She was already feeling the heat in her own groin, not yet aching, but definitely at that pleasant, heady build up of arousal.

She hurried and undressed, hanging the uniform up in the armoire, the one next to the walk-in closet that housed Cadance’s impressive collection of dresses and designer accessories. Twilight owned a fraction of the clothing items that Cadance did, so she’d refused to take the closet space that Cadance had offered her, choosing instead to house her few clothing items in an old dresser that had been rescued from her parents’ dusty basement.

It was a nice piece of furniture, hoof-built by one of her great-great-uncles for her mother’s grandmother as a wedding present, and Twilight had always liked it. Shortly after her engagement, she’d asked her mom for it and they’d made it something of an early wedding gift. Cadance had offered to have it restored, but the condition was surprisingly good for its age, and the little nicks and scratches gave it character. There was even a dent near the bottom where her mom, as a filly, had been chased by one of her cousins into the armoire, leaving a tiny mark from where her horn had gotten stuck. The slightly beat up armoire, and the military-issued trunk next to it that held her armor, were a bit out of place in the fancy room, but neither of the room’s occupants cared. No one was allowed in here without their permission, anyway.

Twilight hung up the uniform, and the holster for her chakram joined it on its own hook. The weapon itself floated across the room at her command to sit on the nightstand on her side of the bed. She made a quick search of the drawers, finding what she needed in the very bottom one. She placed the decorations she’d worn during the ceremony back into their velvet-lined cases. She didn’t own many, as she hadn’t actually been an active servicepony for very long, but she’d won a few awards in her ludicrously short career and she was careful as she put them away.

As she was about to push the drawer back in, she had a second thought, and with a surge of magic she wrinkled her brow in concentration and summoned a large hatbox to her side with a pop of teleportation. The box had been a gift from Cadance, one of the first she’d ever gotten, come to think of it. It was bright red, with white bows and stars painted on it. It was something she’d asked Cadance for in passing, and Cadance had immediately chosen one for her from the collection in her closet. It wasn’t anything special, but it was made special by the things it contained.

Twilight pulled the lid off, releasing a warm, flowery scent that she was all too familiar with. The smell of Cadance’s perfume had faded over time, but the stack of love letters – held together with a length of pink ribbon – still smelled lightly of it. Atop the stack was yet more letters, thanks from ponies she’d helped, and congratulations from teachers she’d had back at the academy. There were also snapshots of dates she and Cadance had had, some Hearth’s Warming cards she’d received, and a pair of sketches that she and Cadance had done of one another on a particularly playful night. Cadance was astonishingly good at drawing, and the sketch was really good – most especially so compared to the crooked stick figure that Twilight had done.

Twilight carefully placed the cases with her medals into the hatbox, replaced the lid, and slid it across the shaggy carpet with her magic until it was under her side of the bed. The medals were just memories now – memories of the pony she’d wanted to be as a child. She’d realized that dream, and then found something beyond that dream that she realized she wanted even more. Now they, like her armor and her dress uniform, were things she’d only take out and wear as necessary, for when she needed to look as impressive as others said she was.

Now unburdened by tight, itchy, military dress, Twilight sat down and scratched herself all over, groaning happily at the feeling of cool air against her sweaty coat. Maybe Cadance had the right idea about a shower.

The muted pop of airborne detonations pulled Twilight’s attention. Even as high up as she was, she could still hear the sounds of celebration reaching a new pitch, the roar of cheering partiers rolling across the city in response to flashes of dancing fire and glittering sparks. Someone had gotten ahold of more fireworks, and the long bank of windows and the stylish glass doors leading out to their private balcony gave her a perfect view. She watched for a while, smiling at the enthusiasm of the crystal ponies – her subjects – in the grips of revelry. The party would easily last until dawn.

Twilight’s magic closed the wall-length blackout curtains once she’d had her fill of the noise, and the sound of jubilant crystal ponies died as the enchanted drapery put up a magical sound barrier. The permanent charm on the curtains was another piece of Cadance’s interestingly complicated spellwork.

Twilight looked around the room at the rest of the details she’d missed, taking it in for the first time since Cadance had finished decorating it. This was going to be their first night sleeping in these chambers, as Cadance had insisted that they wait until she’d had a chance to redecorate. The room had originally belonged to King Sombra, after all, and his sense of decor definitely wasn’t in keeping with Cadance’s sensibilities.

Cadance had even ordered that the bed be replaced, and had the original burned in a field outside the city.

The room actually looked at lot like a much larger version of their chambers back in Canterlot, now that she had a real look at it. Lots of pinks in varying shades, decorative this and frilly that. Thankfully, Cadance had added a bit more color, throwing in little splashes of lavender and gold here and there in the form of throw pillows, rugs, and the odd lampshade. It was a mix of their coat and mane colors, and the effect when viewed against the cloudy blue of the crystal walls and flooring was surprisingly nice.

Twilight wandered around the room, inspecting everything with a critical eye. Cadance had had all their furnishings from their temporary room moved in over the course of the day, but they hadn’t had much when they’d come to the Empire, so a lot of their stuff still had that odd ‘new couch’ smell. She nudged picture frames perfectly straight, rearranged the couch cushions, fluffed the pillows on their enormous bed – anything to distract herself from what was going on in the bath.

With the curtains closed, the only sounds in the room were the ones made by her and Cadance. The sound of a running shower was like a siren’s call, pulling her gaze towards the open door every few seconds. By the time Twilight had swapped the lace doilies on the same two tables a fourth time, the urge to peep was too strong to resist for even a second longer.

She carefully tip-hoofed across the shaggy carpet, worried that Cadance might somehow hear her muffled steps over the sound of the shower. Not that Cadance would mind being peeped on – she’d probably even like it – but Twilight knew that if she got caught she’d never hear the end of it.

Just as she was pressing herself against the wall, inches from peeking her head around the corner, the water suddenly stopped and Twilight heard the sound of the shower door opening.

Twilight leapt into action, pushing off the wall and scrambling to get away before Cadance could notice. She ran for the couches in the sitting area, hoping to play it off like she’d been lounging in wait, but in her haste she stumbled over the ottoman in front of Cadance’s makeup stand.

“Sun damnit!” she shouted as her graceless tumble ended with her stumbling painfully into her own armoire.

Twilight got to her hooves and hurried to the sofa, her shoulder throbbing dully the whole way. She leapt the last few strides and landed on the couch in a repose, on her side, her head supported by one hoof.

Cadance stood in the bathroom door, wearing a fluffy cotton robe, bunny slippers, and a towel wrapped around her head that was surely useless as her mane no longer had enough substance to hold moisture.

“What’s up?” Cadance asked, smirking.

“Nothin’,” Twilight said, lightly tracing her free hoof up and down her side with aloof seductiveness. “Just bein’ sexy… What’s up with you?”

Cadance hummed mischievously, her head slowly turning as she glanced sideways at the ottoman that was laying on the floor.

“That was… like that when I got here…” Twilight lamely explained.

“Just get in the shower, you nerd,” Cadance said, snickering into her fuzzy slipper.

Twilight rolled off the couch and landed on all fours with the grace of a jungle cat. She trotted to the bathroom, eager to get to the fun part of the night.

Twilight let out a yelp as she felt something slap sharply against her rump as she was passing Cadance. She looked back to find one of Cadance’s slippers floating behind her, and the owner of said slipper giving a sly wink.

“Scrub up real good, hon,” Cadance added. “I want you clean so I know what parts I got dirty.”

Twilight again found an excess of saliva in her mouth. She swallowed down, nodding mutely as she hurried into the bath.

Cadance always ran her showers cold, so there was still a slight chill in the air. That inborn pegasus temperament of hers preferred the lower temperature whenever she wasn’t sharing the shower. Twilight was actually a bit suspicious that Cadance might have been a bit disappointed that all the snow had melted when the Empire’s magic had returned. A few times since they’d taken over, she’d caught the silly pink alicorn staring wistfully at the snow-blanketed mountains to the north, mumbling something about going skiing.

The bathroom was new, finished only a few days ago as part of Cadance’s renovations to the palace. The building was over a thousand years old and beautiful as all get-out, but like the rest of the city, it had lacked some of the conveniences that modern society enjoyed. A flood of plumbers and other tradesponies had come to the city, and with the help of the crystal ponies, who seemed to be natural builders, the construction and renovation was being done at a blistering pace. There was still a lot of work to do, but at least the palace was fully modernized. They even had electrical outlets in most of the rooms.

There was an open jewelry case next to the sink, with Cadance’s golden wedding band glinting in the light of the bathroom’s bright fixtures. Twilight had almost forgotten about that, and removed her own from around her horn, placing it in the slot next to Cadance’s in the case. The ring weighed next to nothing, but she was suddenly very aware of its removal.

She put that thought aside and floated her toothbrush out of its holder on the sink as she cantered by, quickly applying a bit of toothpaste even as she magically twisted the shower knobs to get the water started. The shower was about the size of the one they had in Canterlot – large enough for several ponies at once – and separated from the rest of the room by a clear sheet of glass, or perhaps crystal, that left the bather in full view of anypony else in the room. The wall was already steaming up by the time Twilight opened the door and stepped inside.

Twilight brushed her teeth as fast as she could without cutting corners. The inside of her mouth tasted like party food and had a slightly bitter note from all the cider she’d been drinking, and she wanted to be kissably fresh for Cadance. Cadance’s mountain of haircare products somehow hadn’t lessened despite the fact that she now had less hair to wash – if anything, the amount and range of products seemed to have grown – and Twilight couldn’t locate her own all-in-one shampoo amidst the clutter. She’d had to fight tooth-and-hoof to get Cadance to stop throwing her favorite shampoo away, and now that she needed it she couldn’t find it. For all she knew, Cadance had ordered one of the maids to ‘misplace’ it while cleaning the shower. The promise that she'd painstakingly extracted from Cadance had, after all, only prevented Cadance herself from throwing it away.

With a grunt of annoyance, she just levitated a few bottles at random and squirted them onto her back and in her mane. The variety of fruity and perfumed scents all mixed together into something that smelled a little like pears, which was honestly fairly pleasant. She scrubbed fast, lathering up like a big wooly sheep as she continued brushing her teeth. She spit out the foam in her mouth and applied more toothpaste as her vigorous washing moved on to her tail. Her heart was already pounding in anticipation of what awaited her in the other room.

They’d been together for almost a year already, and it was no secret that she and Cadance had been sharing a bed the entire time. They’d shared a cabin on the airship ride back from Zebrica, after the battle against Anubis, after all the death and the terror they’d experienced in the ancient city of Basenji’s ancestors. After that, it was just easier to continue sharing their sleep-space. They were more comfortable together, and they both agreed that they slept more soundly when they were side by side.

But contrary to the rumors making the rounds in Canterlot Castle, they may have been sleeping together, but for quite a while they hadn’t actually been ‘sleeping together’.

Sure, there had been some really, really heavy petting and some world-class flirting, but their relationship had been pretty chaste for the most part. Their first time being together sexually hadn’t actually been until the week of Hearth’s Warming, on the night that Twilight had proposed. On that random rooftop in the city, overlooking the glittering streets and merry-making families, they’d made an agreement to bind their futures together, and sealed the deal with a celebration of physical intimacy.

With the genie out of the bottle, she and Cadance hadn’t seen a reason to hold back their attraction anymore, and they’d enjoyed a very healthy sex life since then.

Tonight was different, though. Tonight Twilight wasn’t sleeping with her girlfriend, she was bedding her wife. Twilight wasn’t just some lucky Royal Guard banging someone way above her station, she was the Princess Consort making love to her Princess.

And thanks to some crazy ancient love magic of the Crystal Empire, Cadance was carrying their baby – that was different, too.

Twilight’s legs felt weak at the thought, and too weak to resist after the ordeal of carrying Cadance up so many stairs, they buckled under her. Her belly hit the floor of the shower with a wet slap. It had only been a few hours ago that Cadance had sprung the surprise on her – or more precisely, her own mother had spoiled it – and happy though she was, she hadn’t really had time to digest it.

After Celestia had cut the cake and released the banner announcing the pregnancy, a lot of things happened all at once. In fact, Twilight had barely had time to understand what she’d been told before the ceremony had started. The ponies of the empire were going crazy, so Cadance had decided to go ahead with the ceremony on schedule, before the celebration got too out of hoof. Then, after the ceremony, there was the photo stuff, speaking with the guests, the reception, the reignition of the party...

This right now, this shower, was the first moment of solitude she’d had since she’d heard the news. Even after Cadance had left, Spitfire and Basenji had been by her side, congratulating her and helping her with the last minute stuff for the wedding. This was the first moment where she could take a deep breath and realize just what Cadance’s announcement meant for her.

She was going to be a mother.

Of a baby.

Her baby.

Her’s and Cadance’s.

Twilight knew what it was like to be responsible for the lives of others, and she knew was it was like to be loved and looked up to… but this was different. This was a child.

Would it be a colt or a filly? Would it be beautiful and loving like Cadance? Or strong and inquisitive like her?

Cadance would be an amazing mother, that went without saying. But what about her?

Would… would the baby like her? It was a silly thought, but… what if the baby didn’t like her? What if their baby hated her? And with that completely irrational, entirely baseless thought, something hard dropped into the pit of Twilight’s stomach.

The toothbrush dangling from her mouth fell to the floor with a clatter. The unexpected noise startled Twilight, and the slight movement caused the huge puff of suds on her head to drip into her eye. She grit her teeth, sucking air through her grimace as she rubbed at her stinging eye.

“I’m being stupid,” she muttered to herself, her voice tinny from the echo off the walls of the cavernous shower stall as she stepped back under the water to wash the soap out of her eye. The grim panic that had settled into her stomach was already falling away as her rational mind calmly explained to her that babies didn't just randomly hate their own parents.

Twilight held the toothbrush under the stream and banished it back to the sink before rinsing herself off.

She didn’t have time to be sulking all alone in the bath. She knew Cadance had to have been asking herself the same, or at least similar, questions. How could she not?

Something like this was joyous, but it was also frightening in a way that Anubis’ curse could never have been. It was the sort of thing that you needed the support of others to shoulder, lest the weight of it crush you. Cadance had a whole empire of ponies who could support her, and Celestia and Luna would be amazing aunts to their child, but before all of that was Twilight. Twilight was her family now, first and foremost. That’s what their promise to one another had meant, that they were committed to becoming one another’s support in everything.

Tonight was the night that they were going to celebrate that promise to one another. Whatever may come after tonight wasn’t as important as this moment, right here and now.

Twilight quickly shut off the water and pushed open the door, stepping onto the plush bath rug and summoning a towel from the shelf next to the stall.

There was a clamor from the other room, the dull sound of panicked hooves ending with a heavy thud and punctuated with a sharp cry of “Sun damnit!” A second later the lights shut off, plunging the bedroom into darkness save for what the bathroom light illuminated.

Twilight laughed and summoned two more towels, controlling all three and adding a drying charm to finish as quickly as she could. Her wife was waiting for her, and it wouldn’t do to make a lady wait. She cantered excitedly towards the bedroom, but stopped to wipe the fog off the mirror and check her appearance.

Her mane looked awful, and a quick check over her shoulder confirmed that her tail was likewise poofy and disheveled from the hurried toweling. With a groan she levitated a couple of brushes and beat the unruly hair back into serviceable shape. It didn’t need to be perfect. Cadance was just going to muss it up again in a minute or two anyway. After one last check of her breath and a rinse with the mouthwash, Twilight was finally ready.

Twilight stepped into the darkened bedroom and the moment her hoof touched the carpet dozens of candles, all surrounding the bed, came to life. Some of the candles were floating, doubtlessly charmed by Cadance to stay there until dismissed and to somehow not drip wax onto the carpet. The fires danced and flickered on their wicks, but the sheer amount of light sources meant that the light was a steady glow that illuminated the bed and its occupant. There were rose petals on the ground, having been blown off the bed by Cadance’s dash to get into position.

And what a position it was.

Cadance was laying on the sheets, on her side in imitation of the pose that she’d found Twilight in earlier. She was wearing something lacey – a virgin-white girdle, held in place by ruby red ribbons that criss-crossed her body, offering little tantalizing peeks of what was beneath. Her forehooves were bare, but her rear legs were covered with a pair of white stockings.

“What’s up?” Cadance asked.

The question, and the click of the bathroom light switch flipping off, only vaguely registered in Twilight’s mind, fixated as she was on her wife’s appearance. She tried to ask something, but her voice cracked pubescently, bringing a huge smile to Cadance’s lips. Twilight cleared her throat, never taking her eyes off Cadance, and finally managed to ask, “Where’d you get that?”

“A wedding present from Rarity and Spike,” Cadance said nonchalantly. A tweak of her magic lifted one of the garters and released it, snapping the bit of stretchy lace against her rump. “Rarity gave it to me in the bride’s room, said it wasn’t something to open in public.” Cadance laughed at the complicated look that flash across Twilight’s face. “Don’t worry, I don’t think Spike knows what was in it. I’m pretty sure he just signs his name on whatever Rarity tells him to.”

“That’s, uh, probably going to get him in trouble eventually,” Twilight said, her eyes fixed on the spot where Cadance had snapped her garter.

“Fun trouble,” Cadance replied, mischief dancing in her eyes alongside the flickering candlelight. “She’s going to make a great little sister-in-law some day. I need to get her to hang out with me and your mom.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Can we not talk about my mom right now?” she pleaded.

Cadance giggled. “Okay, then how about I show you the new trick I learned?”

“What trick?” Twilight asked.

Cadance’s face screwed up in concentration, the way it did when she was about to try and cast a difficult spell, but the shimmer of magic around her horn was so weak it was almost unnoticeable in the candlelight. Her hair began to rapidly shimmer and glitter, undulating ferociously. She grunted daintily, her wings and back legs going stiff as she gave one last push, and her hair – both mane and tail – seemed to shrink back from its cloudlike, ethereal form, becoming solid again.

Twilight gaped at the sight. Cadance’s hair was noticeably brighter than it was before, the pink and gold and violet now an array of electrically vivid shades. Strangely, the glittery motes of light still twinkled, and the chubby little ghostly hearts still swam and bobbed around like blobs in a lava lamp.

“Whoa,” Twilight said breathily. “Just… wow…”

“Do you like it?” Cadance asked, pulling a length of her mane over her shoulder to examine it. There was a sort of nervous energy to the way she kneaded the hair between her hooves. “I was hoping you would. I know it’s not the same, but it does look nice, right? Aunt Celestia showed me how to do it. It took me over a week to get the hang of it. It’s a weird feeling, like trying to hold in your gut, but it surprisingly isn’t tiring. I can probably hold this all night. At least now my mane won’t try to smother you in your sleep anymore.”

“It’s beautiful,” Twilight said sincerely.

Cadance flipped her mane back over her shoulder, her pink cheeks reddening with a blush. “Shut up,” she muttered as she drew little circles in the sheets with her hoof.

“It’s true,” Twilight insisted. “But more than that, I love that you put in the effort you put in just because you thought I would like it."

Twilight stalked her way across the room hungrily, like a predator approaching a wounded animal.

Cadance must have been pleased by the sight, because she gave a throaty growl and an, “Oh my,” as she rolled onto her belly. A rose petal had stuck to her hoof, and Cadance licked it off slowly, with exaggerated eroticism. “What’re we going to do on the bed, Twilight?”

The bed was quite tall, but Twilight was already more than used to alicorn-sized furnishings and climbed onto it effortlessly, crawling across the covers with naked hunger.

“What do you think we’re going to do?”

Twilight crawled closer to Cadance, who laid on her back in the middle of the enormous bed, watching her approach with collected anticipation. Twilight knew it was an act, though. Cadance was trying to maintain her poise, but there was a glimmer of impatience in her eyes that Twilight knew like the back of her hoof. She could already see Cadance rubbing her own tightly pressed thighs together, trying to stimulate herself inconspicuously.

Twilight loomed over her wife, standing astride her and looking down. She held out a hoof and lifted a few strands of Cadance’s hair to her face. She hadn’t smelled Cadance’s hair in almost two weeks, not since she’d awakened into full alicornhood after the fight with Ammit, and she savored the light, flowery scent. This certainly explained why her collection of shampoos and conditioners seemed to only grow.

“I love it when you sniff me like that,” Cadance said, her voice quavering with an aroused shiver. She licked her lips. “It’s so creep. You’re like a horny puppy.”

“Well, I am technically a diamond dog,” Twilight said, laughing as she imagined Basenji nodding his head and proudly stroking his chin approvingly in that wizened manner of his.

Twilight let the strands of Cadance’s hair slip away, spilling back onto the bed. She leaned in, kissing her wife hard on the mouth. They’d shared a very public kiss earlier, at the culmination of their wedding ceremony, but that had been just a chaste little peck on the lips. Now, away from the eyes of their friends and family, away from the reporters and their subjects, they no longer had to be reserved.

Their lips touched only briefly before their mouths were opened to one another, their tongues entwining. Twilight let out an involuntary hum of delight as her wife pulled back a bit, and the tip of Cadance’s tongue wound around her’s with supernatural dexterity. Some mares showed off their oral talents by tying cherry stems into knots, but Cadance had once boasted that she could make a friendship bracelet if you gave her enough stems and some time. Twilight thought it was a joke... until she actually did it. It wasn’t very big, and it took about ten minutes, but damned if she didn’t prove it.

Twilight jumped as she felt something brush against her sex. Cadance had lifted one of her back legs and was slowly rubbing against Twilight’s slit.

“Ah, someone’s already wet,” Cadance said as she pulled away from the kiss.

Cadance lifted her hooves and toyed with Twilight’s hair, touching her all over her head and further messing up her untidy mane. She always said that you could tell how well someone got fucked by how messed up their hair was afterwards.

“Why are you so beautiful?” Twilight asked as she allowed herself to be molested. She gasped, her eyes squeezing shut in pleasure as Cadance pressed a little harder against her vagina.

“Lots of people call me beautiful,” Cadance murmured, “ponies, griffons, minotaurs. Nobles and diplomats, businessponies and celebrities… but you’re the only one I’ve ever believed it from.” Cadance’s hooves slid down from Twilight’s mane, delicately brushing past her ears, and wrapping around the back of her neck. “You’re the one that’s beautiful.”

Twilight felt herself being pulled down, back into a kiss. She allowed herself to be guided, but as Cadance’s hooves started drifting south, pulling on her back in an attempt to get their bodies closer, a thought cut through the haze of lust, making Twilight stand up straight and step away from her wife’s hungry mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Cadance asked in concern. There was no hurt in her eyes at the rejection, just curiosity.

Twilight stood awkwardly on the bed next to Cadance, digging the tip of her hoof nervously into the covers, unsure of how to phrase her concern. Finally, she decided to just come out with it.

“I didn’t want to put my weight on you. Because of, um...” Twilight left the sentence unfinished, but her eyes darted downwards, towards Cadance’s belly.

Cadance snickered, rolling her eyes as she stroked her tummy and plucked at the ribbons holding her lingerie in place. “Twilight, I’m not even showing yet. We can still be kind of rough.”

Twilight sat on her haunches, her warm nethers touching a cool spot on the covers, sending a pleasant shiver up her spine. She rubbed sheepishly at the back of her neck. “Are you sure…? Buh... I just wish I could have had time to do some reading about safe positions or see if there were some stretches or something…”

Cadance huffed. She turned onto her side spread her legs, showing off her pussy for a brief second before hiding it again beneath her own hoof.

“It’s fine, Twilight,” Cadance said, her voice soft with patience as she slowly played with herself. “Seriously. Do you think I wouldn’t have asked the doctor everything I needed to know? I definitely don’t want anything to happen to our baby. Do you not trust my research skills?”

“No, I do,” Twilight admitted, a little ashamed even as her arousal returned from watching Cadance manipulate herself. She knew Cadance was playing her, the exact same way she was playing with her own pussy, but it was a compelling argument even without the distracting diddling.

Cadance lifted her hoof and brought it to her lips. Her fur was soaked, glistening in the candlelight with the moisture from her sex. She stuck out her tongue and licked it clean with a single motion. “Then believe me when I say that it’s perfectly fine for you to get over here, climb directly on top of me, and fuck my little royal brain right out of my skull.”

Twilight was no stranger to foul language. She was a soldier, and sometimes that meant mingling with ponies that spoke in a less-than-refined manner. Cadance, though, had been raised as a princess by the finest tutors in the country and taught diction and elocution until it was practically engraved into her bones. But Cadance hadn’t always been a princess. There’d been a time before she was an alicorn when she was just the daughter of a humble fisherpony, and even though it wasn’t something she ever showed outside of the sacred privacy of their bedroom, she had a surprisingly firm grasp of profanity.

Twilight didn’t need much more convincing. Her ability to think rationally had shriveled and died without resistance at the sight of Cadance licking her own fluid off her hoof. It hardly helped that it was always a turn on for her when her cultured and elegant princess started cursing like a dockworker.

Excited as she was, though, she knew the importance of foreplay, so rather than jump right in, Twilight lowered her head to kiss her new wife on the stomach. Cadance hummed in appreciation of Twilight’s opening move and rolled onto her back, her wings unfurling beneath her on the bed as Twilight continued to pepper her tummy with kisses. The ribbons holding her saddle in place were a little in the way, but Twilight didn’t let that stop her and just went around them. She stuck out her tongue, giving a long, slow lick over Cadance’s exposed belly, leaving long wet furrows in her coat.

Cadance shivered again, her thighs pressing together again as she arced her back. A musical giggle bubbled up from deep in Cadance’s throat, and Twilight felt the tip of Cadance’s wing stroking against her side encouragingly. “Yeah, that tickles, keep doing that.”

Twilight would have done so even without being asked. She licked and kissed her way across Cadance’s stomach, eliciting giggling fits and moans as she went. A few times, Cadance gasped as Twilight sucked on her belly, not hard enough to leave a bruise – love bites, Cadance called them – but enough to certainly feel it.

As she moved further south, Twilight could feel Cadance’s belly growing warmer. The back of her mind, where all the reading she’d done about the physiological effects of sexual arousal had been temporarily relocated, told her that the increase in temperature was due to elevated blood flow into the genitals through a process called vasocongestion, which served to increase sensitivity in erogenous zones. The fore of her mind, which was the part in driver’s seat right now, told her to quit thinking so much and mash her face against her wife’s pussy.

Twilight was just about to move on when something odd happened. She’d been skillfully avoiding the bright red ribbons tying Cadance’s lingerie in place, bringing to bear the skills she’d honed from a long childhood of coloring between the lines with almost mechanical precision, but her tongue just happened to brush against one. She stopped her oral ministrations to stare before giving another very deliberate lick directly on the ribbon.

Twilight sat up, smacking her lips as her brow knitted perplexedly. “Is this… is this a fruit snack?”

Cadance laughed. “I was wondering how long it would take you to notice.” Her horn lit and tugged at her fruity bindings, which stretched a bit before snapping. She balled up the piece of ribbon and floated it into her mouth, chewing loudly. “It’s edible ribbon. Rarity says she makes it herself. There was a pair of panties, too, but I’m saving those for your birthday. Unless I can get her to make me a full body catsuit out of this stuff, in which case that will be for your birthday.”

The ribbon had been one unbroken length, so removing a piece had undone the whole girdle, leaving the ribbon dangling loosely from the little silver rings that held the girdle in place. Twilight tore a piece for herself and sniffed it. She’d noticed that Cadance’s coat had a lightly fruity scent earlier, but she’d just assumed that her wife had changed up her body shampoo again.

She popped the bit of fruit leather into her mouth and chewed. “Hmm… s’good,” she commented.

Cadance’s magic worked at undoing the ribbon, which she wadded up and set onto the nightstand on her side of the bed, atop a silver platter which held a big round water pitcher and a pair of drinking glasses. She wiggled on the bed, her magic tugging at the girdle until she was free of it.

“Oh no, I’m naked~” she half-sang, giggling as she tossed the lingerie carelessly across the room, knocking over a lamp somewhere in the darkness beyond the candlelight.

Twilight grinned as she surveyed her wife’s body with hungry eyes. Free of the girdle, Cadance was now only wearing the garters stretched tight against her hips, and the sheer stockings on her back legs.

Twilight crawled her way across the bed and into position to please her wife. Cadance smiled at her, a mischievous, wild look in her eyes as she tightly crossed her legs. She lifted her back hooves straight into the air, giving Twilight a good view of her wet slit.

“What’cha gunna do now, huh?” she asked, her tone challenging.

In answer, Twilight grabbed those wonderfully long legs. Cadance's stockings stopped just below the hock, and Twilight put her tongue right against the divide, dragging it over the back of her fleshy thigh and curving around the side to trace the heart of her cutie mark. Twilight took the garter between her teeth, pulling it taut and then snapping it against Cadance’s hip, the way Cadance had done earlier.

Cadance moaned, her legs going weak, allowing Twilight to pry them apart with a hoof. “When’d you get so good at this?”

“You know me,” Twilight said as she leaned in and sucked lightly at the inside of Cadance’s thigh, “always training.”

Cadance snorted with laughter even as Twilight grinned at her from between her splayed legs. “You and your smart mouth. Why don’t we see how smart it is with a little oral examination?”

Twilight looked up from between her wife’s legs, cocking an eyebrow in mild disbelief. “Oral exam? Really? Is that your way of asking for ‘bad schoolfilly’ roleplay again?”

“Oh, be quiet and lick me,” Cadance muttered, rolling her eyes.

Twilight ignored the request and moved her ministrations further up her wife’s body, holding Cadance’s legs in the air by bracing them against her shoulders. Just above the temptation of the vagina was the place on Cadance’s belly where her coat was thinnest, where her breasts were. They were small, the rosy pink of her nipples blending in perfectly with her coat.

Twilight wrapped her lips around a nipple, sucking on it hard, until Cadance let out a little squeak of pain. She knew from experience that Cadance liked her to be a little rough, and when she released the suction she was rewarded with a shuddering sigh from her lover. Cadance lifted herself high enough to grind her snatch against Twilight’s collarbone, smearing her with musky arousal as Twilight abused her tits.

“I know you’re having fun down there,” Cadance said with a groan, “but I am not looking forward to having teats. I’m probably just going to wear maternity dresses the whole time so nobody sees my udders.”

“Should be interesting, at least,” Twilight commented, pulling off of Cadance’s nipple with a loud, wet smack of her lips. “You’ll only have them during your pregnancy and as long as you’re nursing, so we might as well see if we can enjoy them.”

“You really think we’ll still have the time for humping with a baby keeping us up all night?”

“I’m naively optimistic,” Twilight said, tilting her head in a sort of half-shrug.

Cadance’s horn lit, summoning a couple of pillows that she used to prop herself up so she could watch what Twilight was doing. She reached down between her legs to play with Twilight’s mane some more.

“Well if we like that kind of play we could always just get me pregnant again,” Cadance suggested. “All we have to do is smash the Crystal Heart again and then make out until the Empire’s magic gives us a new one and a baby to go along with it.”

Twilight blanched at the thought. “I, uh, don’t think that’s a replicable phenomenon.”

“Oooooo~ I love it when you talk dirty,” Cadance said, cooing seductively.

“Plus,” Twilight continued, “there’s probably only a fifty-fifty chance that you’d end up with the baby again even if that did work. For all we know I’d get pregnant next time.”

Cadance sucked in air through pursed lips, her hooves fluffing Twilight’s mane frantically. “Oh, honey,” she said, moaning, “yes. I want to see you pregnant and fat. Get some jiggle in that perfectly toned little ass of yours.”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow again, her mouth already moving to deliver a witty sexual bon mot, but at the last second she decided on a better way to use her mouth. Cadance’s other nipple was already hard, despite having been left mostly unmolested, and Twilight quickly took it between her teeth, giving it a nice firm tug.

Cadance’s hooves wrapped around the back of Twilight’s neck, her body curling up as she let out a sound that was part squeak, part moan, and part scream.

She held tight for a few seconds more, letting Cadance ride out the small orgasm that was currently dripping down Twilight’s chest. She let go, tenderly licking her wife’s abused nipple as Cadance slowly relaxed. After months of practice, Twilight was confident that she had a winning rhythm – a victory pattern that would get Cadance off without fail. She was going to pull the stops out tonight.

Twilight didn’t give her lover a chance to catch her breath, going in for the kill while she was still sensitive. She moved further down, back to the main event. Cadance’s sex was still twitching, her thighs glistening in the candlelight from the small climax she’d just had. The heavy musk of her excitement had soaked into her tail, and the mattress beneath her had an ever growing wet spot.

Twilight ignored the growing ache in her own loins, focusing on doing her best to service her princess. She pursed her lips, blowing cold breath at the little nub peeking out from the hood at the top of Cadance’s slit. Cadance’s twitched again, and Twilight began licking.

Twilight pressed her tongue flat against Cadance’s pussy, licking upwards, maintaining contact with Cadance’s clitoris the whole way, ending with a hard flick with the tip of her tongue. Her lips wrapped around the stiffened organ and she gave it a suck, not quite so hard as what she’d done to Cadance’s nipples, but definitely hard enough to let the mare know she was there.

Her face was a mess, come doubtlessly matting the fur against her face in a most unattractive manner, but the heady aroma was filling her senses, uplifting her own excitement the way Luna’s moon lifted the tides. Twilight licked her chops, savoring the thick, salty taste. She let out a sigh, her breath huffing against Cadance’s vagina, bringing another moan from the mare.

Twilight spared a glance up at her wife, who was now laying back, her eyes fully shut as she writhed with Twilight’s affections. Cadance’s left hoof was tangled up in her own mane, giving her the haggard, wild look of someone who hadn’t brushed her hair in weeks. The other hoof snaked along Cadance’s body, wrapping back around Twilight’s head and firmly pushing her face back into Cadance’s crotch.

Twilight smiled as she allowed herself to be guided back into position. She resumed her licking, her eyes fixed in utter fascination as Cadance’s orgasm built. Twilight dusted off one of the first tricks Cadance had taught her and began spelling her own name out with her tongue against her wife’s pussy in long, firm strokes. When that was done, she started writing out the alphabet, and by the time she was about to begin her second lap of lapping, Cadance’s breath had gone ragged, a slight wheeze in her voice telling Twilight she was in the home stretch. She thrust her tongue into Cadance’s snatch as deep as it would go, wiggling frantically as she reached a hoof up and gently stroked Cadance’s belly, as if coaxing the orgasm out of her.

The hot walls of Cadance’s vagina twitched and contracted around Twilight’s tongue, another modest gush of come dribbling into her mouth. Cadance was now pushing down on Twilight’s head with both hooves, her mouth agape in a nearly silent cry that leaked out of her with a demure squeak, like a child’s balloon with a leak.

Twilight kept licking, a tremble of pleasure shambling through her own pussy at the mere sight of Cadance’s orgasm. Without direct stimulation it wasn’t much of a peak, but she still felt her slit twitching in response, her own wetness growing. She hummed into Cadance’s snatch, pleased at having successfully pleasured her wife. Cadance had finally stopped forcing her head down, her arms having lost their strength and flopping onto the bed at her sides like overly cooked noodles. Twilight pulled away, swallowing down the salty fluid still in her mouth. She spread open Cadance’s vulva to admire the sight of frothy white mare-come dribbling out of her hole and onto the bed.

Cadance was laughing, snorting nerdishly and panting as she rode out the high of her orgasm. She found the strength to lift a hoof, gesturing for Twilight to come closer. “Come here,” she whispered breathlessly. When Twilight was finally close enough she threw her arms around the smaller mare, kissing her deeply. She released her lover’s mouth only long enough to add, “I love you so much,” before resuming their kiss.

The itch between Twilight’s legs hadn’t been abated by her small orgasm, and the need she felt was becoming unbearable now that she didn’t have the distraction of Cadance’s pleasure to worry about. The way Cadance was sucking on her tongue wasn’t helping any, but Twilight knew she wouldn’t have to wait long, so she remained patient, kissing back with gusto while quickly Cadance shifted gears from recipient to benefactor.

Twilight felt something silky against her nethers, causing her to squeak into Cadance’s mouth at the despicable sneak attack. Cadance had flicked against her sex with her tail, dragging the hair across her slit with almost painful delicacy.

“Lie on your stomach,” Cadance demanded as she took Twilight’s place lower on the bed.

Twilight eagerly did as she was told, her ears twitching in anticipation. The familiar tingle of Cadance’s magic wrapped around her midsection, and Twilight allowed herself to be lifted a few inches off the bed so a pillow could be placed under her. She wiggled until she was settled into the pillow, her rear hanging in the air as her tail swished excitedly.

Cadance’s magic tugged at her tail suddenly, holding it still so Cadance could wind it around her hoof. Cadance pulled, yanking Twilight’s tail aside roughly, full exposing her nethers.

“I can’t believe this is all mine,” Cadance muttered. She put her hooves on Twilight’s ass, kneading her buttocks like she was making bread before spreading her open to get a look at the goods. “You’ve got such a pretty little gash. I want to just shrink down and use it as a summer home.”

Twilight’s cheeks – the ones on her face – burned at the compliment, surprisingly. She wouldn’t have suspected that she had enough blood free for such a reaction, but there you go.

She sucked in a rush of air, her belly tightening involuntarily as Cadance yanked her tail again, harder this time. Twilight may have been a quick study when it came to expressing her love physically, but Cadance’s learning curve for the art of sex was almost – probably literally, actually – supernatural. If Twilight knew how to play Cadance like a fiddle, then Cadance was a conductor, directing a hundred piece orchestra towards a symphony of sexual delights.

Cadance’s tongue stroked lightly against Twilight’s dock – the little bit of flesh beneath where her tail connected to her spine – barely touching her. Her tongue lowered, flickering past her anus and drawing a circle around the tight little ring before plunging in.

“Eeep!” Twilight squeaked as Cadance suddenly intruded in her backdoor. “Hoooo – that’s new!”

“You like it?” Cadance asked, tilting her head to the side and waggling her eyebrows. “Been saving it for something special.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against her head sheepishly. She did like it, but she was a little embarrassed to admit it, even to her own wife. “It’s dirty…” she protested lamely.

“I love you, Twilight Sparkle,” Cadance said firmly. “How could I say I love all of you if I didn’t love this part, too?”

Cadance could be remarkably poignant when she wanted to, but Twilight still wasn’t sure about this new kink.

“Cadance... I love you too–hoooohooohahaa~”

Twilight’s hooves pawed at the bedding as Cadance interrupted by jamming her tongue back in. Cadance’s own oral gymnastics put Twilight’s alphabet trick to shame, and the full scope of those skills were currently being retooled in pursuit of a new perversion.

Not one to do a job by half-measures, Cadance’s free hoof pressed against Twilight’s clitoris. Twilight buried her face into the bedding, the silk held firmly between her teeth as Cadance pushed her buttons. She’d already been pretty worked up from eating out Cadance, but now, between the yanking, the diddling, and the rimming, Twilight knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

Twilight rubbed her cheek against the covers, the oncoming orgasm turning her whole body into an erogenous zone. Even the light friction of her face rubbing against the satin bedding was enough to drive her wild.

She didn’t even last five minutes.

“Haaaaaah... Cadance,” she said breathily, “I’m almost there.”

To Twilight’s surprise, Cadance’s tongue slipped out of her, and the hoof that had been toying with her clit was likewise retracted. Before she could ask why Cadance had stopped, Twilight found herself being flipped onto her back.

The pillow under Twilight was tossed aside, hitting the wall hard enough to spill out a few goosefeathers. Cadance practically threw herself atop Twilight, maneuvering herself so her fleshy, come-slicked thigh was pressed against Twilight’s pussy. It was one of their favorite positions. Sometimes Twilight was on top, sometimes Cadance was, but it didn’t matter because in the end, they’d both be able to get off.

“I want to see it,” Cadance said hungrily, her voice throaty, nearly growling. “I want to watch you come.”

Cadance licked her lips and began thrusting, humping herself against Twilight’s snatch.

The feeling of Cadance’s leg against her sensitive organ was wholly different from a tongue or hoof. Her coat added a bit more friction to the motion, and the amount of lubricant that Cadance had on her thighs made for an incredible ride. Sometimes, Cadance would thrust at just the right angle so her garter would drag across Twilight’s clit, the silky, textured lace adding to the feast of sensations.

Cadance’s mane hung down like a curtain, the little glittering stars sparkling ferociously and the hearts quivering and pulsing like they were alive.

“Come for me,” Cadance whispered.

The smell of Cadance’s shampoo and sweat and come hit Twilight full in the face, and all at once, the tension that had been waxing in her loins burst. She lifted her pelvis, grinding her pussy against Cadance as hard as she could as she came.

Twilight’s mouth went tight, and a light whimper sounded in her throat as she started up into Cadance’s wide-eyed and lust-addled face.

Cadance didn’t let up, even as Twilight’s excitement was peaking. Her breath went ragged, her own gyrations becoming desperate as she fucked herself against Twilight with renewed vigor. She licked her lips again before lowering her head to lick Twilight’s throat.

“You’re so beautiful,” Cadance muttered as she lapped at Twilight’s neck. She repeated the words like a mantra, over and over, throwing in a “Fuck!” or two for good measure.

Cadance’s ear twitch against Twilight’s face, and without even thinking, she took it between her teeth and pulled.

Cadance’s body went stiff atop her as she had a third, quivering little orgasm. Small though it was, it still left the mare breathless.

They held one another, panting and sweating, enjoying the warmth of one another’s tired bodies. Cadance finally rolled off her love, her sex pulling away from Twilight’s leg with a sticky sensation not unlike that of climbing off of a vinyl couch on a sweltering summer day. She flopped bonelessly onto the bed next to Twilight, staring at the ceiling as she caught her breath.

“Love you,” Twilight said groggily.

Cadance mumbled something unintelligible that might have been, “Love you, too,” but sounded more like, “Rubfoohooo…”

It was close enough.

They lay there for a while, basking in the glow as weariness seeped into their bones. Twilight spared a glance at Cadance, whose eyelids were drooping as she hovered at the edge of sleep. She was so beautiful, so gorgeous, and so hers, that Twilight could feel the familiar tingle returning to her nethers.

“Wanna go again?” Twilight asked.

“In morning…” Cadance muttered. She lowered a hoof between her legs, rubbing herself experimentally before pulling away from her doubtlessly sore and sensitive vagina with a sharp intake of air. “I think I need at least twenty minutes, but I’m not sure I can stay up that long.”

Twilight rolled over and pulled Cadance’s face to hers for a peck on the lips. “‘Kay.”

Somehow, Twilight found the strength to sit up and summon the pitcher of water from the nightstand. The water was hot, but she happily drank it straight out of the pitcher, gulping it down until it was half gone. She held out the pitcher to Cadance, who also managed to sit up and wordlessly accepted it, draining the rest in a single pull.

Cadance rolled out of bed and walked shakily to the bathroom, the empty pitcher floating along behind while Twilight waited in bed. The wet spot beneath her was already starting to feel nasty, so with a groan she got up and just threw the soiled bedding on the ground, carelessly scattering the rose petals that had survived their activities all over the carpet. There was another layer of fitted sheets beneath the cover, which were cool and comfy and mostly dry.

Watching the shower of petals falling to the ground had reminded Twilight of their presence. In the heat of the moment she’d forgotten all about them, but only now, in the gross, sticky afterglow, did Twilight realize that the damn things were everywhere.

“Damn rose petals!” Cadance shouted from the bathroom. “Never again!”

Twilight laughed, amused by how in sync they were tonight.

The toilet flushed a few minutes later, and Cadance returned from the bathroom, no longer wearing the garter and stockings. The pitcher of water had been refilled from the bathroom sink, and Cadance had been kind enough to bring a moist towel for Twilight.

It was never a good idea to go to sleep with sex juices between your legs. It’s a mistake you only make once. She cleaned the important bits, leaving the rest of her disgusting, sweaty body for a shower in the morning.

While Twilight was cleaning up, Cadance dismissed the candles, sending them all away with dozens of quiet little pops. The light from the bathroom had been left on, so they weren’t totally in the dark.

“That’s a really cool trick,” Twilight said.

“Thanks.”

They climbed back into bed together, snuggling up and yawning in tandem.

“You have a good wedding?” Twilight asked.

Cadance hummed an affirmative. “Mhm. It was fun. Tired, though.”

Twilight buried her face in her wife’s mane, thinking again how glad she was that Cadance had learned whatever she’d learned from Celestia. The hoof what wasn’t currently trapped under Cadance’s body drifted lazily up and down Cadance’s side.

“We don’t have anything to do tomorrow, right?” Twilight asked.

“Nope,” Cadance answered. “Aunt Luna said she’d cover court for a couple of days as a wedding present, and your brothers said they’d oversee the cleanup of the rager going on downstairs. We can just have our meals sent up and spend the next two days fucking each other like animals.”

“That sounds great,” Twilight said, her ears flicking excitedly.

Cadance hummed again, her hoof lightly caressing Twilight’s flank. “Hey, by the way. Did a cute crystal pony filly – about sixteen or so, short mane, sundial cutie mark – talk to you?”

Twilight frowned at the question. “No, why?”

Cadance snickered tiredly. “She came up to me to ask if ‘Her Majesty, the Empress, would be recruiting any concubines’.”

Twilight pulled her face out of Cadance’s mane, her eyes wide as she stared down at her wife. “What?”

“They’re from a different era, honey,” Cadance said soothingly, patting Twilight’s ass. “Apparently she was the representative for a group of her friends who were hoping they could join your harem.”

Twilight’s eyebrows knit in thought as she opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it one more time. After some thought she asked, “How do you know it wasn’t your harem they were trying to join?”

“Because you’re the one they call their Empress of Steel,” Cadance said teasingly. “Plus, she kept shooting you looks while we were talking.”

“What’d you tell her?” Twilight asked, not even trying to mask the suspicion in her voice.

“I told her to leave her curriculum vitae and a headshot with the executive butler, and that we’d keep it on file if we decided that was a position we need filled.”

Twilight frowned. “She’ll probably do it as soon as she figures out what you were talking about… I don’t know how to feel about this.”

“Just be flattered,” Cadance said with a yawn. “All it means is that our subjects are just a little bit completely madly in love with you. It’s just a part of being royalty. Congratulations, babe, you’ve arrived.”

Twilight decided that she’d had enough of this madness and shut her eyes, burying her face back into Cadance’s mane and letting the weariness of the day and the fantastic workout she’d just gotten finally drag her into dreamland. Just as she was about to drift off, she was pulled back from the edge of slumber by Cadance’s voice.

“Twilight...”

“What?” she mumbled groggily.

Twilight forced her heavy eyelids open as she felt Cadance sit up in bed. Cadance was looking down at her with tears falling freely down her cheeks.

“Twilight… we’re going to have a baby.”

It was a simple statement, but it was profound in its simplicity. In her voice Twilight could hear echoed every fear and worry she’d held in her own heart, but there was also excitement and joy so powerful that it made Twilight’s heart ache.

A baby… It was everything Cadance had wanted, and she’d be sharing it with the pony she’d just promised to spend the rest of her life with.

The feeling growing in Twilight’s chest wasn’t anything she could describe. She’d learned a lot about love from Cadance, but every time she thought she had a firm grasp of the concept, she would find them stumbling headlong into some new and awe-inspiring aspect of the thing. Love was a cube with an infinite number of sides, an ocean with unfathomable depths stretching on into the infinite, and yet it was also a world so tiny and simple that she could hold it between her arms every night.

And all of that infinite, boundless emotion, was now coalesced into a new life that was waxing with every passing moment within Cadance’s womb. It was a tangible, real expression of their love which would grow, explore the world, and one day – hopefully – find love of its own.

Twilight didn’t say anything. She just pulled Cadance back down, kissed the top of her head, and held her until the shrill, nasally whine of Cadance’s snores filled the air. Having seen her wife safely to sleep, Twilight allowed herself to drift off as well.

* * *

Author's Note

The final promise has been broken! The sex has been written! There will be at least one more chapter to this side-story business. It's not quite ready yet, but I think you'll like it. Try to guess the pairing! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. And as usual, if you find anything that needs correction, please send a PM!

If you like this, or want me to get around to TwiGuard arc 3 sooner, check out Sundowner, my current story! It might motivate me to finish it a little quicker~

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll all join me next time!

Please be excited!